The Bruins are down, 3-0, after two periods, and yes, Steven Stamkos has something to do with it.

Randy Jones threw a shot on net from the point, and with Adam Hall and Dana Tyrell in front, Andrew Ference tended to Hall. This left Tyrell to tip it up and past Rask, who was likely still trying to track the puck at 3:26.

It wasn’t shortly after that the B’s worst fear was realized. Game-planning against the Lightning probably starts with stopping Stamkos and Martin St. Louis, but the two got on the score sheet when St. Louis picked up his 19th assist of the season on Stamkos’ 20th goal at 5:15. Teddy Purcell added on at 11:36, grabbing a rebound off the boards and tipping it in.

Through two periods, the Lightning are outshooting the B’s, 28-15. Tyler Seguin leads the Bruins with three shots on goal.

The Bruins spent much of the first period trying to keep up with the tempo of the Lightning, but after one the two teams are scoreless.

Tuukka Rask has faced 11 shots, saving them all. The B’s limited Steven Stamkos to one shot on Rask, though Martin St. Louis got three on the netminder.

The Bruins have just seven shots on Mike Smith. Tyler Seguin and Shawn Thornton lead the B’s with two. Thornton had the game’s only penalty thus far when he got the gate for interference at 17:55 of the period.

Tuukka Rask was first off the ice on Monday, indicating he’ll be between the pipes when the Bruins take on Mike Smith and the Lightning in Tampa Bay. Guy Boucher‘s club is currently riding a three-game win streak.

WHERE IT’S AT

– The B’s are 7-1-0 on the road, with their lone loss coming on Nov. 5 in Washington. They have 10 goals in their last two road games, seven of which came in their come-from-behind victory over the Penguins on Nov. 10.

– The Lightning are 4-2-1 at home, and 2-2-1 in their last five home games.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

– Michael Ryder saw a dip in his playing time on Saturday. Ryder entered the contest averaging 14:01 a night, but got just 9:50 of ice time. It was the first time all season that Ryder played less than 12 minutes, let alone 10.

– Between the two starting goalies tonight, just one goal has been allowed in their last starts. Rask blanked the Panthers in Boston while Smith allowed one goal on 30 shots against the Sabers in Buffalo.

– Steven Stamkos is out of his mind. He’s got 19 goals this season, with Sidney Crosby and Alexander Semin a distant five goals behind him for the lead league.

Stamkos had 23 goals as a rookie, and given all the parallels between he and Tyler Seguin, this scribe is holding firm on the projection that Seguin finishes the season in that ballpark. Seguin is on pace for 18.

STORYLINES GOING IN

– After one game of having Seguin as a third line winger, Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe reports that Seguin will swap spots with Jordan Caron and jump up to the second line. The initial reaction is that this is a great move for multiple reasons. For starters, it returns Seguin to the generation-spanning line that looked so intriguing in the preseason and puts the young scorer on a line with two of the top-three guys on the team in assists. Mark Recchileads the B’s will 11, while Patrice Bergeronis tied for second with Nathan Horton (10).

This move will also be good for the team in that it gets a slumping Caron off the second line. He hasn’t scored in 10 games, picking up just two assists over that period.

– It should be interesting to see how Rask, who is tied for third in the league with a .939 save percentage, fares against an offense as productive as Tampa Bay’s. Rask had a 41-save shutout the last time out against the Panthers, but the Tampa Bay is averaging 3.1 goals per game (5th in the NHL) and have totaled 14 goals in their three-game winning streak.

– Special teams could be key in this game, as it matches the third-best power play in the league (Tampa Bay scores on 24.4 of its power plays) against the Bruins’s 89.9 penalty kill percentage, which is second in the league.

By DJ Bean | Comments Off on David Krejci returns to Bruins lineup vs. Kings

After warming up with the team and skating with regular linemates Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, Bruins center David Krejci appears set to make his return to the B’s lineup on Saturday night against the Kings. Krejci has missed the last six games with a concussion suffered on Nov. 6 in overtime against the Blues. In 11 games this season, Krejci has two goals and eight assists, good for 10 points.

The Bruins appeared to keep Blake Wheeler at center in warmups, but on the third line, meaning the move to wing may have finally come for rookie Tyler Seguin. Here’s what the lines looked like:

NEW YORK — Tim Thomas picked up his 10th win in 12 starts this season as the Bruins defeated the Rangers, 3-2, at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

Milan Lucic, Tyler Seguin, and Mark Recchieach scored on Henrik Lundqvist, who had picked up a win on Oct. 23rd against the B’s in Boston. Recchi’s goal, his second of the season, was a real softie, as he lobbed a wrist shot on net that Lundqvist, hugging the post, let slip through ever-so-slowly.

The Bruins will return to the Boston on Thursday, where they will face the Panthers at TD Garden.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

– Here’s another occasion on which it feels appropriate to check in on Milan Lucic’s pre-season target of 20 goals for this year. Lucic was limited to 50 games last season due to injury, and he made a point of it to aim for his first 20-goal campaign. Lucic now has seven goals in sixteen games, putting him on pace for about 36 goals this season.

That’s not to say that Lucic will nearly double his estimation for the season. Two of the tallies have been empty netters, and Lucic would need to play 82 games, something he’s never done in his career.

– Tyler Seguin had not been playing his best hockey entering the night, but he provided a reminder that when given the opportunity to showcase his offensive wizardry, it sure is fun to watch. Seguin hadn’t scored since Oct. 30th against the Senators, but he snapped that streak when he stole a puck at his own blue line from Rangers defenseman Matt Gilroy, flew through the neutral zone, and went top-shelf on Henrik Lundqvist.

– Thomas was sensational once it became a one-goal game in the third, making a couple of huge saves on Gaborik, one of which came when he pushed a Gaborik’s wrister back with his blocker. The B’s also killed off a two-man advantage late in the third.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE BRUINS

– The B’s were 0-for-3 on the power play, and they’ve really cooled off with the man advantage. After Wednesday night’s game, the Bruins are 1-for-16 on the power play in their last four games.

– Marian Gaborik continued the tear he’s been on, beating Thomas stickside in the third period to make it a one-goal game. It was Gaborik’s fifth point in his last three games.

– The Bruins were very sloppy with the puck in the first period. Very short passes in the neutral zone made it tough for them to muster much pressure, but luckily the Rangers came out just as sloppy in a scoreless first period.

NEW YORK — Tyler Seguin scored his fourth goal of the season (his first since Oct. 30th) and the Bruins lead the Rangers, 2-1, after two periods.

Seguin stole a puck from Rangers defenseman Matt Gilroy, took it through the neutral zone himself, and beat Henrik Lundqvist top shelf for the tally.

Brandon Dubinsky has hurt the Bruins enough this season, but that didn’t stop the Rangers’ forward from making it even worse on the B’s. Dubinsky, who fractured Johnny Boychuk’s forearm with a slash on Oct. 23 in Boston, drew a Nathan Horton double-minor for highsticking, and put the Rangers up, 1-0, on the ensuing power play.

Horton would make up for his costly penalty, setting up Milan Lucic’s seventh goal of the season, a game-tying tally from the slot.

The Bruins likely have a ton of positive energy following a five-goal third period that propelled them to a 7-4 come-from-behind victory over the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. They return home to face the Canadiens for the first time this season on Thursday.

– The Bruins are a modest 2-2-1 as the home team this season (they were the home team in the season-opening 5-2 loss against the Coyotes in Prague).

The Habs are 5-2-0 on the road, with their most recent road loss coming last Tuesday, a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jackets in Columbus.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

– After scoring in the third period of the Bruins’ victory in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, Nathan Hortonnow has 149 career goals. He can go for No. 150 against the Habs on Thursday night in front of the home crowd.

– The Bruins have averaged 2.2 goals this season in the third period when entering the period trailing.

– The Canadiens have the worst power play in the league, scoring on just 7.8 percent of their power plays.

– The Bruins have had back-to-back games just twice this season. They are 1-0-1, beating the Coyotes on Oct. 10 in Prague and losing in a shootout to the Blues on Saturday.

– After playing a career-high 17:22 giants the Sabres last Wednesday, Tyler Seguinhas played 12:21, 9:49, and 12:32 in three games since. He is averaging 13:06 of ice time each night, and after assistingMark Recchi‘s goal, he has six points on the season (3 G, 3A). Seguin is on pace for a 21-goal, 21-assist campaign.

– Former Boston College star and current Canadiens captain Brian Gionta has had a rough start to the season, but things are starting to look up. After having just three points through the team’s first 12 games, Gionta has a goal and an assist over the last two games.

– Carey Pricehas been a rock in net for the Habs, softening the blow of just how good Jaroslav Halak has been (1.79 GAA, .932 save percentage). In 14 starts, Price has gone 8-5-1 with a 2.28 GAA and a .918 save percentage.

Price is coming off a shutout against the Canucks on Tuesday, but has allowed three goals in three of his last five starts, all three of which the Habs lost.